White Appreciation Day

A Mexican-owned barbecue restaurant in rural Colorado has struck it big by hosting “White Appreciation Day”–giving their white customers a 10% discount on Thursday afternoon.

“This all started off as a joke,” Edgar Antillon, the owner of Rubbin Buttz BBQ in Milliken, Colorado. “It was never really intended to be taken seriously.”

But Antillon, and his co-owner Miguel Jiminez, also thought it would be a wonderful way to give back to their white customers.

Because they feel that, as Americans, all cultures should be represented and appreciated.

“As a Mexican, I understand that there’s Hispanic Heritage Month, there’s a month for just about every other culture, except the white culture. And I understand the significance behind that, I understand why there’s Hispanic Heritage Month, Black History, etc.,” Antillon said.

“What I don’t understand is why there isn’t a white history month… So we decided to have one day to celebrate white Americans, because all Americans should be celebrated.”

Antillon doesn’t downplay racial conflict in the United States–but feels that, basically, it’s up to us to live in the present, not the past. Rather than continue to victimize certain races, and villainize other ones, America needs to move forward.

Antillon and Jiminez knew that their “White Appreciation Day” would be controversial–and it certainly gained nationwide attention. So much, in fact, that the attention caused their website to crash.

But overall, the response has been positive.

“We’ve had a few bomb threats, death threats, but besides that it’s all been positive,” Antillon said. “And that’s what we’re focusing on, all the positive stuff.”

For that, Antillon has no regrets:

“None whatsoever,” he said, enthusiastically. “Never will I regret it, never will I apologize… People are too busy walking on eggshells all the time to ever accomplish anything.”